This was a gruesome injury, and a speed-robbing one, but I don't think it's a career ender. He's still got one year left, and I still think he's talented enough to at least carve a niche as a 3rd down back in the next level, speed or not.

I honestly thought he was a better running back then Trent Richardson before all of the injuries. And, it's not like Trent Richardson hasn't been injured either.

His other knee injury. In the space of two years he suffered serious, season ending injuries in both knees. He certainly could come back, he's a very hard and motivated worker, but one can't be surprised if he never recovers fully either. Its not that he would be completely incapable of playing, but that he wouldn't be able to play at near a high enough level to make it.

Willis McGahee is still playing reasonably well at an age that's considered old for an NFL RB. Counting out Lattimore at this point is stupid.

Willis McGahee was drafted high in an era where running backs were highly valued, and received every chance to prove he was worthy of his high draft status, and has lasted in the NFL because of what he proved in that chance afforded to him.

Will Lattimore receive the same opportunity? Certainly running backs are significantly less valued now than they were in 2003. So Lattimore is not going to go in the first round. If he ends up being picked in, say, the third round and he is slow in recovering from his injury, do you think a team is going to wait around for him? If he gets cut after a couple of NFL season because he hasn't shown anything yet, do you think teams are going to line up to give him more opportunities?

whether or not Lattimore receives the same opportunity as McGahee is irrelevant. the fact is that we know nothing about his rehabilitation right now and won't until he is ready to play. if he recovers fully, it is going to show in practices and games and he'll get his chance.

Sucks for Lattimore, just terrible luck. Not sure he was completely over his prior knee injury yet either. Will be interesting to see whether he enters the draft or comes back. It's unclear how early he could return next year, so he may be best off just going pro. I'm sure some team will roll the dice in the mid rounds.

Who's the top back in the draft now? He pretty much had a stranglehold on that spot. I'm a big Gio Bernard fan personally but not sure what consensus on him is at this point.

Making any assumptions on a timetable for recovery and/or future NFL prospectus "at this point is stupid."

Not a single one of us knows anything about what was damaged structurally, whether there was nerve damage, circulatory damage, etc. We know nothing about musculature or any fears of degeneration.

McGahee came back from his horrendus injury, Bo Jackson didn't come back from his invisible one. Simply stated, we don't know.

Prayers for a quick and full recovery.

You're completely right. We always get a whole bunch of doctors coming out of the woodwork in these kinds of situations acting like they have a clue how it's going to turn out but in reality no one does.

He has been one of my favorite players since his freshman yeah when he ran through Georgia. I cant even eat anything after hearing about this and then seeing it, it just makes me sick. I am gonna hope and pray that he can make it back.

Things like this makes you realize that sometimes life just isn't fair. That is just a terrible injury. You don't want to see this happen to anyone, but he came back from that ACL and looked pretty good but I don't know if it is possible to come back from an injury like this. Lattimore is a guy who had a ton of talent and a legendary work ethic, one of the more respected players in the game. Great player, not flashy or a punk just got the job done. Sad to see this happen to anyone but especially him.

I'm not ready to stick a fork in him yet. He's not the type of running back that is going to beat you with great speed or change of direction. He relies more on his intelligence, vision, and toughness to squeeze out yards. Frank Gore's actually a good on field comparison for him. I would still take a chance on the guy with a day 3 pick. Hope he can recover and still have an NFL career.

No one remembers how injuries totally robbed Gore of his career at the U.
If Lattimore doesn't play ball for a year, maybe he gets drafted late in 2014 draft. He may never be a great speed back(he wasn't anyway), but he still should have a chance to play football again.

I still need to wait and see how severe the knee injury was from doctors, but like others have said Lattimore is a young man. WHo knows where he's going to be in 12-16 months??

This isn't like in the 1960s when an ACL injury was career ending. Modern orthopedic medicine is going to have Lattimore on an NFL roster in 2014.

If the femur is broken, he very well may be done. That almost certainly will require surgery to put in screws and rods...yuck. I had to have a metal rod put in my femur when I was younger and I just never regained the muscle mass on that leg.

And for him, having it happen right above his knee with all the ligaments being torn too...not good. I hope he took his classes seriously.

If the femur is broken, he very well may be done. That almost certainly will require surgery to put in screws and rods...yuck. I had to have a metal rod put in my femur when I was younger and I just never regained the muscle mass on that leg.

And for him, having it happen right above his knee with all the ligaments being torn too...not good. I hope he took his classes seriously.

He seems like a bright kid. He'll do alright in life. I definitely think his career is over.

If the femur is broken, he very well may be done. That almost certainly will require surgery to put in screws and rods...yuck. I had to have a metal rod put in my femur when I was younger and I just never regained the muscle mass on that leg.

And for him, having it happen right above his knee with all the ligaments being torn too...not good. I hope he took his classes seriously.

If he's done, this injury might have cost him tens of millions of dollars. That's just so hard for me to wrap my head around.